Impeller housing



April 17, 1962 A. B. GQETTL IMPELLER HOUSING Original Filed March 8,1957 m m m m ALBERT B. GOETTL The present invention relates to animpeller housing and more particularly to an impeller operable inconnection with small fractional horsepower electric motors for pumpingliquid.

The present application is a division of my copending application SerialNo. 644,897 for Impeller filed March 8, 1957, now Patent No. 2,952,213.

In the manufacture of evaporative coolers, pumps are used to force waterfrom the sump in the bottom of the cooler to manifolds or distributorswhich direct the water into troughs at the upper edges of theevaporative cooler pads. .In these coolers small high speed electricmotors are used and it is desirable to operate pump impellers in directconnection with shafts of such motors in order to provide for theconstruction of a very economical pump.

It is an object of the invention to provide a pump having a very simplehousing, pump inlet, screen and supporting structure which is verysimple and economical to produce, assemble and maintain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pump housing and inletscreen wherein resilient shoes are frictionally engaged with legs on thehousing and the shoes retain the screen in position relative to thehousing and also support the entire assembly in spaced relation from thebottom of a liquid sump.

Other objects and advantages of the invention may be apparent from thefollowing specification, appended claims and accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 of the drawing is a fragmentary side elevational view of a pumphaving the impeller of the present invention mounted therein and showingportions of the pump housing in section;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of a pump showing the impeller of thepresent invention mounted therein and showing portions of the pumphousing broken away to permit a full view of the impeller in connectionwith the end of a motor shaft and;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken from the line 33of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing the pump which houses the impeller ofthe present invention is located in a sump wherein liquid 10 is beingtransferred from a sump through a conduit 12 to a use location.

, The conduit 12 extends from a centrifugal pump housing 14. The conduit12 serves as an outlet which com- 18, 19, and 23. These shoes areprovided with an envelope portion which fits over the legs 17 and gripsthem frictionally due to the resilient character of the shoes which maybe made of any suitable material such as plastic, rubber, or any othersynthetic material. Each of the shoes is provided with an inwardlyextending toe portion such as the toe portion of the shoe 17 and thesetoe portions extend under a cup shaped screen which covers the lowerside of the pump housing member 26 wherein a central opening 24 thereofcommunicates with the inlet of the pump impeller 30.

As shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings the pump housing 3,029,744 PatentedApr. 17, 1962 member 26 is provided with a flange which is fixed to thelower inner side 15 of the pump housing 14 while a housing support 46 isprovided with a flange 48 secured to the upper side 13 of the housing14. The flanges 27 and 48 may be secured to the housing 14 by rivets orany other suitable means as desired. The support 46 may be secured tothe supporting frame structure or may be mounted on a motor which drivesthe shaft 28 in connection with the impeller 30.

The opening 24 of the housing 26 is concentric with a motor shaft 28which supports the impeller 30 of the present invention. The opening 24is smaller than the outside diameter of the area traversed by theimpeller 30. As shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings the motor shaft isprovided with a diametrically disposed slot 32 which is open at the endof the shaft and extends axially thereof. Positioned in this slot 32 isthe middle portion of a flat piece of sheet metal which forms theimpeller 30. Opposite sides' of this fiat piece of sheet metal areparallel to the axis of the shaft 28. This flat piece of sheet metal atopposite ends of the slot 32 is wound tightly around the shaft forsubstantially degrees and each end of the fiat piece of sheet metalextends in a flat spiral directed around the shaft and outwardly thereofin progressively curved configuration.

It will be noted that when the impeller 30 is formed, portions 34 and36' which are contiguous with the shaft 28 for substantially 180 degreesare formed slightly closer together than the over all diameter of theshaft. Thus, the middle portion 35 of the impeller if fitted in the slot32, the arcuate portions 34 and 36 frictionally engage the outer sidesof the shaft 28 and tend to force the bifurcated portions of the shafttoward the middle portion 35 of the impeller whereby it is held securelyin the slot 32 and around the periphery of the shaft near the endthereof, all as shown best in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

The shaft 28 and impeller 30 rotate in the direction as indicated by thearrows in FIG. 2 of the drawings whereby the spiral configuration of theimpeller tends to wind tightly about the shaft when loaded. The load offluid on the outwardly directed flat spiral portions of the impellertend to tighten the arcuate portions 34 and 36 against the sides of theshaft and to squeeze the bifurcated portions of the shaft toward themiddle portion 35 of the impeller which is fitted in the slot 32.

In operation, rotation of the impeller by the shaft 28 causescentrifugal action of liquid in the housing 26 whereby water enters theopening 24 in the housing and is dispelled outwardly through the conduit12.

Due to the spiral configuration of the impeller centrifugal displacementof liquid from the shaft to the outer ends 38 and 40 of the impellerrequires a greater amount of revolution on the part of the shaft thanwould be required for a straight radial vane type impeller. It will beseen that as the shaft 28 rotates the impeller forces watercentrifugally but only permits the Water to move outwardly within thelimits of the spiral configuration at sides 42 and 44 of the outwardlyextending spiral portions of the impeller. Thus, the impeller, due toits flat spiral configuration tends to act as a centrifugal impeller andat the same time has the effect of a reduction gear between the highspeed fractional horsepower motor and the liquid being pumped thereby.

In operation, the shoes 18, 19, 20 and 21 are frictionally retained uponthe legs 17 of the housing 14 and firmly hold the screen 22 in position.However, when the screen 22 becomes encrusted with minerals the shoesmay readily be removed from the legs 17 to permit cleaning of the screenand replacement thereof. The toes 25 of the shoes support the screen inspaced relationship relative to the sump bottom 16.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications of the present invention may be resorted to in a mannerlimited only by a just interpretation of the following claims.

I claim: 7 t

1. In a pump and impeller: a housing for said impeller comprising asubstantially cup shaped housing member inverted and having downwardlyextending legs; shoes frictionally engaged with said legs and havinginwardly directed toe portions extending toward the interior of saidhousing and a cup shaped screen extending upwardly into said housing andhaving its bottom portion engaged by the toes of said shoes for holdingsaid screen in said housing.

2. In a pump and impeller: a housing for said impeller comprising asubstantially cup shaped housing mem- 'ber inverted and havingdownwardly extending legs; shoes frictionally engaged with said legs andhaving inwardly directed toe portions extending toward the interior ofsaid housing and a cup shaped screen extending upwardly into saidhousing and having its bottom portion engaged by the toes of said shoesfor holding said screen in said housing; another housing member securedto the inner side of said inverted cup shaped housing and having anopening therein communicating with the center of said impeller.

3. In a pump and impeller: a housing for said impeller comprising asubstantially cup shaped housing member inverted and having downwardlyextending legs; shoes frictionally engaged with said legs and havinginwardly directed toe portions extending toward the interior of saidhousing and having its bottom portion engaged by the toes of said shoesfor holding said screen in said housing; another housing member securedto the inner side of said inverted cup shaped housing and having anopening therein communicating with the center of said impeller; a pumpsupport secured to the upper side of said first mentioned housing.

4. In a pump and impeller: 21 housing for said impeller comprising asubstantially cup shaped housing member inverted and having downwardlyextending legs; shoes frictionally engaged with said legs and havinginwardly directed toe portions extending toward the interior of saidhousing and a cup shaped screen extending upwardly into said housing andhaving its bottom portion engaged by the toes of said shoes for holdingsaid screen in said housing, said shoes disposed to engage the WheelerMay 14, 1957 Tsiguloff Jan.'19, 1960 rim

